Royal Caribbean experiences?

[Wheatondiver]

Family is planning on going on a Royal Caribbean cruise in March 2008. The stops are in Costa Maya, Mexico and Belize City, Belize. The cruise has a package that includes tank, weights, mask, fins, BCD and Regulators. Require certified divers who have been diving within last two years.

Here is my problem. My son was certified last August when he was 10 years and 2 months. He now has 16 dives which include dives in freshwater, Hawaii, and Key Largo. He will be 3 months short of his 12th birthday. Not because I am his father, but I would dive with him over some other divers at resorts. Royal Caribbean says it is their insurance that sets the minimum age.

Does anyone have any experience with dive operations in Costa Maya, Mexico and/or Belize City, Belize? This will be my first cruise and I do not know how firm the docking times are. What if we are late at departing the ship in morning? I don't see the estimated times in port on the printouts that my wife printed, but I could find out if that makes a difference.

 

[truck1]

I have a few questions for you since I have never dove Royal.I have dove Disney though.
Is Royal Carribean the in between money takers acting as a travel agent for the dives or are they actually the dive operation.If they are just taking the money, you may be able to call or email the shop they use and talk to them and cut Royal Carribean out of the middle.Next question do they have on board discover scuba?The one where they teach you in the pool?They may be talking about that.
In the mean time I will ask a friend of mine I work with.I know he has traveled with them and I am pretty sure he has dove with them.

 

[chadbeck]

I was actually on that cruise last year. I did book through royal caribbean for the costa maya dive and had no problems. They use dream time. The nice thing was that they only take out 8 divers per boat with 2 dm's. They have 2 boats so there is not a lot of space for an entire cruise ship. The is only one other dive shop in costa maya but when I looked into them the cost was the same as the ship. As for the age they only check you c card and that was it. The diving in costa maya is really easy there was no current and was all done based on you. If you have a computer you can dive your profile if you want just have to surface with around 500 psi. I didn't dive in belize because I dove in cozumel, costa, and grand cay. One thing with belize is that you are using tenders so it about a 20 minute trip from the ship to shore so that is one thing to keep in mind. If you run late on a ship run trip you still get on the ship. If your on your own they can leave you behind and you are on your own. That being said I have done 3 cruise with royal caribbean and used there planned trips just in costa maya only because of the lack of options. Hopefully this helped a little. you can also look up dream times website and email them about the age seeing as they run the trip?

 

[DiveMaven]

As I understand it, booking through the ship in Belize is better than on your own. The dive op comes out to the ship to pick you up and you avoid tendering with the ship. I've also heard that all the cruise lines in Belize use Hugh Parkey's operation out of Belize City.

 

[diveborg]

You might want to look in the Cruise and Liveabord section

 

[NSDiver]

I did a Carnival cruise in April that offered a lot of diving as part of their "shore excursions." We stopped in Cozumel, Belize City, Costa Maya, and Freeport on Grand Bahama. Since you have a problem with booking with the ship anyway due to your sons age, I can tell you that (at least with Carnival) it wasn't usually a good deal to begin with.

In Costa Maya, the ship wanted to charge $165 for a two-tank dive. I got off the ship and very easily found a dive operator (Olinca Dive Center) at one of the kiosks right outside the pier. Still a little expensive ($80 for a two tank dive), but not $165. Easy to set up too, I just told them when I wanted to go, took a cab to Mahahual, and hopped on a boat. Pictures are in my gallery. You can get some information about Mahahual, including information on Olinca Dive Center at this address http://www.xcalak.info/visit/uk/activity_operators_mahahual-uk.shtml

As long as they don't have a problem with your sons age, you shouldn't have any trouble setting up dives in Costa Maya. I can't speak for Belize City since I didn't dive there, but there didn't seem to be many dive operators once in port. What we did in Belize was cave tubing which was a blast. So if you want a change of pace, check it out (and it's cheap). http://www.cave-tubing.com

Hope that helps.

-Nick

 

[Wheatondiver]

Royal Caribbean's website for both locations (Belize and Costa Maya) "Note: This package includes tank, weights, mask, finds, BCD and regulator. Minimum age requirement for participation is 12 years of age. This is limited to certified divers who have been on a dive within the last two years. Certified divers must present a valid certification "C" card in order to participate."

My wife contacted Royal Caribbean and explained that our son is certified with 16 dives to-date. He will be about 3 months short of his 12th birthday. They informed her that he can not dive, but check when we are on the ship. That seems a little late. I would like to have my spot reserved before I get on the ship.

I checked PADI.com and found a dive operation in Belize that indicates that they are one of two shops. They are 5 minutes from the tourism village. No more than 8 per boat. The other shop works directly with cruise ships. They indicate that at the end of the day they will drop you off directly at the ship. This is Sea Sports Belize.

I just want to have enough time to search for a dive shop if Royal Caribbean is going to stick to their 12 year old minimum. Other vactions, we just get up early and drive/walk to the boat. We know when they leave and we plan accordingly. We also have the rest of the day to rest or sightsee.